Your View: Is it GMO? Why we need to know

Wednesday

Feb 5, 2014 at 12:01 AM

If you take anyone off the street and ask: "Do you think companies should label foods created with genetic engineering?" the polls consistently show us that more than 90 percent of people will say yes. Over the past 18 months, a grassroots movement for food labeling has ignited across the country, with GMO, or genetically modified organism, labeling laws being considered by more than half the states, including Massachusetts. The chemical manufacturers and junk food companies, the ones benefiting from a lack of transparency in our food system, have since spent millions of dollars trying to convince us that we don't need to know what we're feeding our families.

BROOKE BAPTISTE

If you take anyone off the street and ask: "Do you think companies should label foods created with genetic engineering?" the polls consistently show us that more than 90 percent of people will say yes. Over the past 18 months, a grassroots movement for food labeling has ignited across the country, with GMO, or genetically modified organism, labeling laws being considered by more than half the states, including Massachusetts. The chemical manufacturers and junk food companies, the ones benefiting from a lack of transparency in our food system, have since spent millions of dollars trying to convince us that we don't need to know what we're feeding our families.

With childhood allergies out of control, shouldn't parents know if their children are eating untested GMO foods? Shouldn't we be able to decide if we want our families to be part of a GMO food experiment? It is no exaggeration to say that these foods are not adequately tested. The World Health Organization and the American Medical Association both recommend mandatory safety testing of GMOs, but the Food and Drug Administration does not perform or require any safety testing. They rely only on voluntary safety testing by the same companies profiting from their approval. These companies include Monsanto, the people who brought us DDT and Agent Orange, and told us there was nothing to worry about.

A genetically engineered food crop, commonly called a "GMO," is created by taking a piece of genetic material, or DNA, from one plant, recombining it with viral and bacterial DNA, and then forcing the whole thing into the cells of the food crop. Most crops are either engineered to produce an insecticide in every cell (so it can't be washed off), or are programmed to handle increasing applications of chemical herbicides. Because of this, the EPA has recently increased limits of the chemical glyphosate in our food supply, which has been linked to birth defects in South America.

GMO technology is completely different from the type of traditional breeding farmers have been carrying out for generations, and it introduces many new risks. However, these companies pay for their own safety research and then actively discredit any scientists challenging their claims. Multiple peer-reviewed studies link the consumption of GMO foods to digestive disorders, infertility and cancer. Nearly 300 food scientists and experts, including the developer of the first commercialized GM crop, have signed on to a recent statement citing serious safety concerns with GMOs.

Unfortunately there's no data to back up the industry claim that GMOs haven't already been contributing to the decline in public health over the past 20 years. Without labeling and tracking, public health officials wouldn't be able to link GMO foods to the many unexplained health problems facing Americans today.

Whenever regulators try to introduce new labeling requirements, companies try to say it will increase food costs. The reality is that food manufacturers can just as easily tell us if a food contains GMO ingredients as they are able to label it "produced in a facility that handles peanuts." Dozens of other countries have implemented GMO labeling without increasing food costs. The only challenge is having enough political will to stand up to the special interests trying to keep us in the dark about what we're eating.

Connecticut and Maine both passed bills in 2013 that require similar action by local states, and right now every state in the Northeast is considering GMO labeling bills. Elected officials in Massachusetts have the opportunity to join a national movement of people standing up to special interests and declaring their right to know what they're eating. But unless legislators take action on this by March 19, we may not be able to pass GMO labeling until 2016.

Communities across the state are calling their legislators about this issue, and teaching each other about why we need to know what we're eating. This Monday, How On Earth food store in Mattapoisett hosted a free screening of the documentary "Genetic Roulette," which can also be viewed online.

If readers feel they need to know if they're eating GMOs, they need to call their local elected officials and urge them to pass GMO labeling this session. The grassroots network MA Right to Know GMOs has assembled information and action materials on their website, www.marighttoknow.org.

Our lives are busy enough without having to worry if our food is genetically engineered. For the sake of our families, let's get loud about labeling GMOs. We have a right to know, and we need to know!

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